Research Fellow, Co-Director of the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project

Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes

Education

Areas of Expertise

Chimpanzee and gorilla ecology and behavior

Environmental influence on African great apes

Lowland forest ecology

Gorilla and chimpanzee conservation

About David Morgan:

David began his research and conservation career in 1997 as an assistant in the Republic of Congo, where he collected behavioral data on western lowland gorillas with Mbeli Bai Gorilla Project in the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park. After two years, he initiated the Goualougo Triangle Chimpanzee Project to expand our understanding of the little-known central subspecies of chimpanzee. This groundbreaking study has led to numerous discoveries in chimpanzee behavior, ecology, tool-use and conservation needs. His investigation of the social structure, spatial distribution and feeding ecology of three neighbouring communities of chimpanzees was the focus of his graduate research at Cambridge University, U.K.

Concerned about the fate of our closest living relations, he has made evaluating the impact of mechanized logging on chimpanzees and gorillas a primary interest. David believes concrete strategies to safeguard apes in logging concessions are attainable and every effort should be made to develop, implement and evaluate them.

While he’s involved in numerous exciting, collaborative studies that will continue to improve our understanding of the behavior, ecology and health of these endangered species, he considers the greatest achievement thus far to be his involvement in securing the annexation of the Goualougo Triangle onto Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in 2003. The pristine forests of the Goualougo and the apes that make their home there are nothing short of a priceless heirloom—with a rich legacy we are only beginning to know.

Morgan, D.B., Sanz, C.M., Stokes, E.J.
2012.
The Importance of Set Aside Areas for the Conservation of Great Apes in the Ndoki Region: Preservation of the Goualougo and Djeke Triangle Forests.
In Clark, C. J. and Poulsen, J. R. (Eds.). Tropical Forest Conservation and Industry Partnership: An Experience from the Congo Basin Conservation Science and Practice. Conservation and Science Practice, Wiley-Blackwell.